Mecool KM7 Plus Certified TV Box Review
The Mecool KM7 plus is the upgraded version of the Mecool KM7 that ran on the S905Y4 chipset. This new model however runs on the Amlogic S905Y4 and implements some features that were missing in the previous model. It adopts a new black-and-white modern housing design and has more firmware features and certification than the previous model. New to this model is the implementation of the new Google TV operating system, unlike Android TV OS used in the previous model.
The previous KM7 was Google certified but it did not have an official Netflix ESN certification, which limited Netflix from showing above 480p resolution even if you had an HD account. Another issue rectified in this new Plus model is the lack of surround sound audio decoders. It comes with all the decoders for the playback of 4K 2160p HDR 10, HLG, and AV1 videos. It does not however have Dolby vision decoders. For surround sound audio when used with the MX player, you get Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Surround, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS Virtual-X. You don’t get true DTS HD-MA or DTS X.
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User Experience
One of the things to plague certified boxes in recent times is a requirement by Google for developers to obtain their Google certification, which is the box must have 2GB of RAM and 16 GB of external storage. I am confused just as you are as to the rationale behind this requirement, as restricting the amount of RAM and internal storage a box has is counterproductive. These requirements restrict the performance of the box and limit what you can do in addition to streaming movies and TV shows such as Android gaming. This is also reflected in its performance benchmarks on the ranking chart.
Another feature lacking in this model is Dolby Vision decoders which should be part of your premium movie streaming experience. So if you’re looking to purchase this model as an alternative to the Fire TV stick, the Fire TV Cube, the Nvidia shield, and many others, please take note of the pros and cons.
Mecool KM7 Plus Hardware
- CPU – Amlogic S905Y4 quad-core Cortex A53 2.0GHz
- GPU- ARM Mali G31 w/Open GL ES 3.2 Vulkan API version 1.1
- RAM – 2GB LPDDR4
- ROM – 16GB eMMc
- Wi-Fi – Dual Band 2.4GHz + 5GHz AC
- LAN – 100 Mbps non-gigabit
- Bluetooth – 5.0
KM7 plus I/O ports
- 1 HDMI 2.1
- 1 RJ-45 LAN 100Mbps
- 1 AV
- 1 Optical Audio
- 2 USB 2.0
- 1 12V 1.oA DC
- 1 Micro SD TF
Benchmarks
- Antutu – 83,219
- CPU single-core – 4160
- CPU – multi-core – 11,369
- GPU – 9,650
- RAM Speed – 3784 MB/s
- ROM speed – read 126 MB/s | write 50 MB/s.
- Wi-Fi Speed (based on 154Mbps) – 5GHz band 100% | 2.4GHz band 65% (104Mbps)
- LAN Speed (based on 154Mbps) – 61% (94Mbps)
Mecool KM7 Plus Pro features
- Amlogic S905Y4 CPU 4X 2.0 GHz LPDDR4 RAM
- GPU Vulkan support API version 1.1
- Google TV OS version 11 fully certified
- Netflix ESN certification included
- Google Assistant with Bluetooth voice remote
- 4K 2160p resolution with 10bit and 12 bit color space
- HDR/adaptive HDR, HLG, AV1 decoders
- Google Widevine L1 with HDCP 2.3 protection
- Works with Google smart home ecosystem
- Screen mirroring in HD 1080p via Google Assistant
- 4K HDR videos play without issues
- Dolby Atmos/Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Surround/DTS virtual-X
- Medium to low graphics gaming available
Cons:
- Limited 2GB of RAM and a 16GB of internal storage (Google requirement for certification)
- No Dolby vision decoders
Final Thoughts
Mecool has released another certified model to view premium movie streaming services in HD and 4K. But some might be wondering why these certified models are limited to 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Information coming to me from developers, reveals that this limitation is due to a Google certification requirement that mandates models to have 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which makes no sense to me at all. Nonetheless, what I can’t understand on the part of Mecool is why they couldn’t include Dolby Vision decoders in this model.
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